


Relentless

by SailFyre (orphan_account)



Series: The Dangerous Ladies [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-13 02:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5691529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SailFyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Study of Mai at different times between Zuko's banishment and 'Return to Omashu'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

How Azula had managed to sneak them into the Agni Kai arena, Mai didn't know. Frankly, she didn't care. She wished that she wasn't here to see another example of how cruel the Fire Lord was to his son. Azula was better, but Ozai was awfully obvious about his preference. 

She would have shown her shock and horror if she remembered how. Ty Lee was actively sobbing as they left, and Mai's most vivid memory of that day was the grin on Azula's face as she watched them go, minutes after her uncle had left. 

To this day, Mai wonders if Azula knew what was going to happen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my mind, how long Mai had been an only child was one thing Ty Lee got wrong. For me, it'll always be 13 years instead.

It was six months later when Ty Lee told her that she wanted to be in a circus. Mai replied, "It's your life. I'm not in charge of it." Ty Lee grinned at her through watery eyes and told her she wasn't leaving yet. Her dad was too sick. 

Mai didn't comment. When Mai got home that day, she found out her days as an only child were limited. "I'm sure you'll be a good big sister to your brother." 

Mai hoped that was wishful thinking.


	3. Chapter 3

The day her little brother was born was branded into Mai's memory. She was told to go and play with Azula and not come home until called. She went. When she got there, she left because Azula was in a particularly sadistic mood. 

She was greeted by a tear-stained note at Ty Lee's. Her best friend was gone. Although Mai wanted to scream and stomp and rage, she did not, and went to the Fire Nation Royal Palace, where Azula ranted about betrayal. 

After the war, Mai would remember how easygoing Azula had been that day. 

Mai stayed at the palace for three days and nights.


	4. Chapter 4

Mai's fourteenth birthday was one that she'd rather forget. All her parents were caring about was the fact that Tom-Tom was  _three whole months old_. It was a miracle! All Mai cared about was the absence of her best friend next to her.

  Nobody was there to help her blow out the candles even if her day wasn't for almost two months. Nobody was there to grin at her when her father wondered aloud where the fireflakes had gone.  

  Azula never came,  and even though her parents were furious, Mai found herself not caring. After all, it was her birthday.


	5. Chapter 5

A year and a half passed rather uneventfully for Mai and her not-new-anymore younger brother. Uneventfully, that is, until their parents announced, out of the blue that Omashu had fallen, and they were going to live there .

Yes, among the Earth Kingdom peasants in squalid conditions Yes, they would likely die of disease or hunger (or both, Mai thought privately), but they were going to obey the Fire Lord's orders if they died trying. It didn't matter anymore tthat Mai was now unlikely to ever marry well. 

They were doing what the Fire Lord has ordered them.


End file.
